Kapow '11: Child of Eden's Sensory Overload

Share.

Nothing can prepare your brain for Mizuguchi's latest.

By Ewan Smith

Trying to describe a game like Child of Eden with only your words is like trying to describe a feeling using maths, or the texture of a kitten's fur with a cordless drill: the tools don't fit the task. And it's scarcely any easier doing a show-and-tell, so abstract and unusual is the experience on offer. All credit to its creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi then, who stood before a hushed throng at Kapow! Comic-con to do precisely that.

"If you're a big Rez fan, you'll play and you'll have a big smile I think!" he told the auditorium, and this is self-evidently the case: his latest opus is a sequel to 2001's cult favourite in all but name, but shows a clear evolution of its predecessor's unique gameplay and aesthetic. With the 360 booted up and Kinect fully calibrated, he gave it a whirl for our viewing pleasure.

As before, the player is tasked with purifying the eponymous Eden - a riotously colourful, highly stylised imagining of the internet – which has been corrupted in a viral attack. Travelling on a fixed course through the various themed archives (Matrix, Beauty, Evolution and so on), the elegant lock-on-and-destroy mechanics will have you purging the dazzling environments of these pesky interlopers as rhythmic electronica compliments and rewards your efforts.

The introduction of live action adds emotion.

And despite there being approximately 100 per cent less porn than a typical jaunt through the interwebs, that's not to say the whole experience is bereft of pretty girls. One of the more striking deviations from your typical shoot-'em-up fare – and any other recent game for that matter – is the introduction of a live-action character called Lumi. Born in space as the first ever artificial consciousness, she has never known the Earth except by exploring Eden, the repository of all human knowledge. Appearing like an eastern Kate Bush, she will dance, sing and provide visual feedback on your performance throughout the game.

"I had that idea first," Mizuguchi explained, when asked why he chose to forgo the plastic chops of a 3D model in favour of full motion video. "It would have been really difficult. I wanted to have real emotional, natural behaviour from a character.

"I want to have emotional behaviour when she's singing her song, and at the end of the game you can see something else, but maybe [I'll use 3D] in the future."

In the here and now though, the game doesn't suffer from its absence. He played through an early stage replete with huge, gliding whales, a soaring, pulsating soundtrack and psychedelic jellyfish before confronting a vast, shape-changing phoenix in the climactic boss battle. As he expertly swept the board with deft hand gestures, Lumi would flash up on screen to dance out her appreciation. It really was curiously uplifting to watch.

The phoenix boss looks incredible but you need to hear the soundtrack to fully appreciate the how mind-blowing Child of Eden is.

Also apparent was why Microsoft has Child of Eden pegged as Kinect's killer app. Using a conventional controller is a tactile experience and some gamers are wary of any interface that might remove the sensation of physical feedback they provide. Muziguchi's "sense-o-rama" allays some of these fears by offering something that's so richly responsive in its sound, music and visuals that the loss of a joypad may be felt much less keenly.

To properly convey the feeling Child of Eden evokes would require wearing a fluffy rabbit suit and hugging you, while shining technicolour lights in your eyes and passing a mild electric current through your body. The sleepless, dead-eyed IGN legal team are vigorously shaking their heads at me though, so European audiences will have to wait for the June 17 Xbox release date, with the undated PS3 version to follow.